PROLOGUE: THE GOD SUMMIT
BIRDS CHIRPED as they fluttered by the lakeside and the sun shone brightly over Ford, Stan, Soos and Melody's afternoon picnic. The smell of meat filled the air as Melody flipped steak on the grill by the RV and Soos brought out the drink cooler. The two Grunkles sat on two chairs by the bank as they fished, waiting patiently for their catch.
"Ah, this's great." Stan stretched out.
"I have to agree, I do miss the simplicity of just basking in nature." Ford looked around, seeing nobody else around. "Though this place is weirdly empty."
"Well, I spread a rumor that flesh eating monsters filled this area, so this's my private lake now." Stan smirked.
"You need to tell me what spell you use to convince people of every cockamamie story you make up."
"Well, it's a trade secret." Stan grinned, gaining a chuckle from his brother.
"Perfect, my 'Fermented Dung Beetle with Squid' surprise is finished!" Max Tennyson burst out of the RV with a large bowl.
"Yeah, no." Stan turned back to his fishing rod.
"Huh, maybe I'll try that." Soos said.
"Uh, no, I'm not cleaning your puke up like last time." Melody cut in.
"But –,"
A portal opened nearby, cutting the conversation, and Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith stepped through. "Alright, we're in the right place." Rick pocketed his portal gun.
"I don't think this's a good idea, Rick." Morty's brows furrowed.
"Relax, Morty, I'm only gonna –," Rick tried to say when he noticed Max. "Oh, the Plumber, well, I'm outta here." He walked off.
"Hey, Rick, what brings you here?" Ford stood up.
"Oh, yeah, almost forgot." Rick quickly moved up to Ford. "I wanna show you something."
"Hold up, you're not going anywhere." Max frowned. "You're wanted in several star systems."
"Come on, I kidnapped one Jedi for experiments one time, what's the big deal?" Rick shrugged.
"Wait, you found a Jedi? When'd you do that?" Morty asked excitedly.
"That doesn't matter." Rick said, producing his portal gun. "C'mon, Ford, you'll wanna see this." He dragged Ford along by the arm.
"Hey, where're ya going? You better bring me along." Stan ran up to them.
"It's gonna be awesome, you should come along." Rick opened a portal and forcibly pushed Ford through, turning to Max. "Tell your grandkid I'm gonna steal that watch soon."
"Hey, stop!" Max made chase, but was unable to catch up as Rick, Stan and Morty went through. "Dammit!" He frowned, being left with Soos and Melody.
Soos glanced around as a silence fell. "So, is the squid offer still on the table?"
FORD STUMBLED forward as he ended up in Rick's garage, panicking as the door to the front yard was open and quickly closed it with a button nearby. He sighed when Rick, Stan and Morty arrived, frowning at the grey-haired scientist. "What are you thinking leaving this place open?"
"Relax, I cloaked the room." Rick closed the portal. "Nobody will see us."
"And what about the squirrels?" Ford asked.
"I have that handled … I think." Rick glanced around, annoying Ford.
"Sweet lab." Stan looked around at the tools that hung from the walls and work desks around, turning to see a large, green four-man pod in the middle of the room. "What's this thing?"
"That's a ship I built for inter-dimensional travel." Rick explained, turning to Ford. "And I needed your magical expertise so it could go to the edge of the known multiverse."
"The edge of existence? You mean Reality's Edge." Ford said.
"Just think of it, Ford." Rick moved up to him. "If we go to Reality's Edge, we'd be the first intelligent life forms to set foot on it! Everybody thinks it's imaginary, but we can prove it's real!"
Ford looked at him then at the pod, a smile spreading on his face. "Alright, I'm in."
"Uh, Rick –," Morty tried to interject and Rick covered his mouth.
Pulling out a crystalline rune stone from his pocket, Ford moved up to the pod's front and drew a decagram symbol on the vehicle's hood with chalk. Completing the mark, he put the stone in place and it glowed, sending out glowing magical circuits throughout the machine. "Alright, it's done."
"Perfect, let's go!" Rick produced his keys and opened the pod's window.
"Yeah, I'm not coming along." Morty said.
"No, you're coming along, Morty." Rick grabbed him. "Don't want you letting this leak out."
"But, Rick –,"
"Don't struggle, Morty." Rick forced him into the pod. "Let's go!"
RICK'S POD jumped out of hyperspace, ending up in a massive white hall that seemed to extend outward forever. Rick, Stan, Ford and Morty looked around in amazement, Ford looking upward and seeing Super Shenron swimming in outer space through the glass roof. The man looked downward, seeing thousands of seats lined along the walls of the round hall that cascaded toward a large cathedra at the bottom.
Shivers went down his spine as he saw magical symbols and mosaics of deities on the walls, realizing what was going on. "Did you just bring us to the Hall of Merlin!?"
"Wait, is that what it is?" Rick feigned surprise. "Whoops, must've put in the wrong coordinates."
"You idiot! Do you want to get us kill –,"
A bright light shone outside, drawing Ford's attention to a gigantic figure that appeared in the cathedra below! The being in question was a tall bearded man with white hair and glowing eyes garbed in golden robes who wielded a cane. By his side was a bronze cosmic owl who sat on his shoulder, looking out into the hall as its many doors opened. They were Merlin and Archimedes!
"Oh shit!" Ford backed up in his seat. "Rick, get us outta here!"
"No can do. Now that the big guy's arrived, he'd definitely sense us if we left." Rick said. "Besides, I cloaked the ship and made it sound proof so we wouldn't be heard or seen."
"But –,"
"Nope. Now sit back and shut your buttholes." Rick pressed a button his dashboard, producing buckets of popcorn beside him and the others. "The show's about to start."
Ford raised his brow and looked downward to see several gods and cosmic beings enter the hall one after another. "You want us to eavesdrop on the Summit of the gods ...," He breathed in disbelief. "I'm going to kill you if we get back."
Merlin looked around as gods from all over the multiverse arrived, crossing his legs and getting comfortable. "Do you think it was a good idea to summon both good gods and evil gods in one place?" Archimedes asked.
"Don't worry, old friend, I have everything under control." Merlin said.
A bright light appeared behind them as a portal opened, revealing Dr. Strange who walked in with Tom, Mary and Star Butterfly behind him. The mewman looked around as she entered, grinning with elation as she saw everyone. "Ooh, this's fancy!"
"I'd recommend that you stay quiet and by my side during this meeting." Dr. Strange moved up to his seat beside Merlin. "I cannot ensure your safety if you provoke one of the gods present."
"Oh, we are so fucked." Tom groaned as he and Mary sat down.
Morty watched curiously from above as the three arrived, his sights set on Star as he blushed slightly. "Whoa, she's beautiful …"
"Yeah, I'd avoid mewmans, Morty." Rick said, failing to grab the love-struck boy's attention.
On a row to their right came another portal from which cosmic entities arrived including the Grand Priest and the Omni-Kings accompanied by the Supreme Kais, and Whis and Beerus followed by Son Goku and Prince Vegeta. Goku rushed up to the guardrail, excited as Star was. "Whoa, this place is neat!" He grinned. "And there're so many strong people here!" He turned to Whis. "Can I –,"
"No, you cannot fight any of them." Vegeta groaned. "Who brought this buffoon along?"
"It was our idea to bring him along because we like him." The first Omni-King said.
"Now stop questioning our decision on it or we'll erase you!" The second Omni-King growled.
"Y-y, y-yes, Your Lordships!" Vegeta said quickly.
Whis giggled at this, looking around and seeing more Destruction gods, Kais and their escorts appearing on the same row as them, including Toppo, Jiren the Gray, Champa and Hit. Jiren took his seat without acknowledging the others, irritated by Goku who pranced about across from him.
On a row above came the Asgardians Thor and Odin via the Bi-Frost, escorted by their guards, Queen Elsa, and Princess Anna from Arendelle of earth. The two women were stunned by the immense magical pressure emanating from the gods present, taking in the splendor around them.
"I've never seen a place so beautiful." Elsa said.
"Yeah, and I can't believe we're actually goddesses." Anna said, disbelieving herself. "The heiresses of Jutonheim and Muspelheim; I could get used to that!"
"You could say that again …" Elsa said, only half-hearing her sister.
Anna chuckled as she looked around once more, seeing Beerus in the row below her. "Hey, who's that cat?" She pointed at Beerus, gaining a glare from him that made her shriek with fear.
"You'd do well to refrain from mocking the gods." Thor said. "They are easy to offend."
"He's right, and avoid thinking anything about them either." Odin added. "There are gods that can hear anything, even thoughts." He sat down, gaining a gulp from Anna.
Odin shifted his focus to Merlin as he waited for the gods to arrive, frowning. "What is the Old Mage thinking bringing us all here like this?"
In the row below the Asgardians, Goku finally brought himself to sit down beside an aggravated Vegeta. "Seeing as telling you not to think anything offensive would be a bad idea, I'll put a barrier." Whis tapped his cane on the ground, creating a see-through force field around them.
"Hey, do ya know who all these guys are, Whis?" Goku asked.
"My memory of cosmic entities across the multiverse might be rusty, but I'll do what I can." Whis said, seeing four goddesses arriving on a row above. "Well, what do we have here?"
Goku looked in the direction Whis was facing and saw White, Blue, Yellow and Pink Diamond of Home World arriving alongside several of their Generals. "Well, they seem powerful." He said.
"Those are the Diamonds, the last of a race of gods that plunderer planets and terraform them, treating their subjects like trash." Whis said. "They are a particularly cruel and heartless bunch."
White Diamond took note of the guests that'd arrived before her, her expression falling as she didn't see who she was looking for. "Why isn't our lord here yet?"
"You're right." Blue Diamond crossed her arms. "It's unlike him to arrive after us in these kind of things."
"Well, he should be here soon enough." Yellow said. "It's amazing how vast the multiverse has become since the Convergence began."
"Indeed." White concurred. "I wonder which one of these 'gods' planets we should conquer."
Goku looked upward as a dark portal opened nearby and a black cosmic entity arrived on his own, simply standing by his chair instead of sitting down. "Ooh, that guy looks cool!"
"That is Eon." Whis explained. "He hails from a race of watchers, unlike those of the 616 Universe, that he broke away from as they remained neutral during the ensuing chaos that arose when the Convergence started. He's quite angry."
A white gateway shaped like doors appeared nearby and thirteen beings garbed in black kimono under white cloaks stepped through, occupying several seats close to each other. "Those are the Gotei Thirteen." Whis said. "They're one of the multitudes of guardians of souls in the spiritual multiverse appointed by Death himself. I find them kind of interesting."
Stepping through a purple gateway in an upper platform came Thanos who was accompanied by the Black Order. On his arm was the Infinity Gauntlet with only one stone, drawing Whis' attention as he sat down and observed the proceedings.
"That is the Mad Titan Thanos, the last of the alien Titan race." Whis said. "He's consumed with the ideology of halving the multiverse's population in an attempt to save it from its own demise. If he accomplished his hunt for the Infinity Stones, he'd pose a great threat to all life, including yours."
"Heh, he's never faced the Saiyan Prince." Vegeta scoffed.
"Your pride will be your undoing, Vegeta." Beerus scoffed, glancing to his right and frowning. "Oh, great, the idiot arrived."
"Who?" Whis turned to where Beerus looked, seeing Queen Butterfly arriving with her husband. "Oh her. Yeah, she's an idiot."
"Who's she?" Goku asked.
Whis groaned. "Well, she's the queen of the mewmans, an incredibly powerful yet incompetent race of tyrannical buffoons that reside on the planet Mewni. They do have impressive connections though." He noted as he saw her arrive with Lekmet, Omnitraxus Prime, Hekapoo and Glossaryck. "Oh, and the mewman princess is down there." He pointed at Star. "I suppose it may be because of the incident."
"Ooh, lemme fight that guy!" Goku stood up as he saw Glossaryck.
"Ah, ah, you're not ready to fight 5th Dimensional entities yet." Whis nudged him back with his staff, frustrating him.
At Merlin's side, Star noticed Queen Butterfly and tried to cover her face with her hand, gaining Tom's curiosity. "What's wrong?"
"My mom's here." She whispered.
"What? Where? Lemme embarrass you and make this awkward." Tom stood up.
"No!" She pulled him back, drawing Queen Butterfly's gaze. "Oh, crap!"
"I-is that my daughter?" Queen Butterfly asked Glossaryck.
"It seems so." Glossaryck grinned. "Yoo-hoo! Hey, Star!" He waved excitedly, making Star withdraw in discomfort.
"Oh, I knew I shouldn't have trusted Stephen Strange." Queen Butterfly frowned then looked around. "What if she ends up getting hurt with all these gods here?"
"Don't worry, I wouldn't let that happen." Glossaryck said, nibbling on his foot.
"Yes, I'm so relieved." Queen Butterfly deadpanned.
Merlin gazed throughout the hall as the seats quickly filled up. Seeing as everyone he invited arrived, he rose to his feet. "Welcome gods and goddesses of the multiverse to the Summit of the gods!" He said with a booming voice, silencing everyone. "I gathered you all here to discuss something that affects each and every one of you and that could lead to your deaths if we do not address it accordingly."
The gods became apprehensive of this, causing even Whis' usual chipper demeanor to wither away. "So that's what he summoned us for."
"Now, that I have your attention, I –," Merlin tried to speak when closed doors behind him swung open!
The deities present shifted their focus to the egress as Aizen the Lord of Hueco Mundo, Erhard the Dragon god, Darkseid, Apocalypse the god of mutants, and Morgana Lafey entered the hall. Merlin became upset upon seeing Morgana, a rage that was easily noticeable by anyone close by that sent shivers down their spines.
"Hmm, seems we've drawn unwanted attention to ourselves." Aizen noted.
"It's not unwanted." Darkseid stated. "All must know who shall rule all reality in future."
Morgana smiled as she noticed the Grand Wizard up ahead. "Merlin, you're actually here; not an apparition or a clone! I've longed to see you, my love."
Merlin breathed deeply and turned to the others. "As I was saying, now that I have your attention." He raised his hand, conjuring a Holy Grail in his hand alongside several others that appeared in the hands of the gods. "Let is make a toast in reverence to The One Above All Himself."
A few of the gods partook in the toast – including Whis, Goku and Vegeta, the latter of whom were confused –, but the majority tossed the grails aside in anger. Merlin, unsurprised, set his grail down and cleared his throat. "Now, let's bring this meeting to order."
"Since the Convergence began four years ago after the acts of a foolish human in San Fransokyo of Terra created a tear in space time, reality has altered far too much to be left alone. The resultant Convergence changed reality in many ways, the most obvious of which caused many parallel realities to start merging into one." Merlin began. "It is the reason why all of you varied gods actually exist in the same space and is the reason I've called this meeting."
"The human's actions alone weren't responsible for the Convergence, but the tear in reality allowed for a powerful entity to start the merging of universes in order to destabilize reality and facilitate his escape." Merlin continued. "This entity is known by ancient beings like the Valar as the Nightmare of Reality, or Nightmare for short. He is the nothingness that existed before the Creator brought reality into being and he aims to bring everything back to that state and erase us all. We have to –,"
"Nightmare wouldn't have been able to start the convergence in the first place if it weren't for the ongoing existence of those three children you're protecting!" Eon interrupted. "Nightmare's powers flow through those two human younglings and the mewman chosen by the Valar to help quell the two is only liable to get corrupted by being exposed to them! If beings like them are here on the outside, they allow him to pull the strings even while he's sealed off!" The gods became agitated upon hearing this. "And even if she isn't corrupted, they all pose a threat to all of us! When they last clashed, they destroyed multiple universes and they weren't even at half of their full potential!"
Panicked chattering spread throughout the hall and Rick, Ford and Stan, from the pod above, focused their attention on Star, Tom and Mary. "Hold on, what are they doing here?" Ford asked.
"Wait, you know them?" Rick asked.
"Yes, I just didn't notice them until now."
"They're friends with our grandkids." Stan explained.
"Wait, wait, wait, you're telling me you are acquaintances with the little shitheads who nearly destroyed all reality?" Rick said in shock. "Did you know that there's nowhere I could run to if that happened and you're only telling me this now!?" Ford frowned upon hearing this, realizing the gravity of the situation.
The panic among the gods below turned into anger and Eon saw this, waving his arm and projecting images of the battle that took place over a year ago. The images showed multiple events that took place in the collision, including a corrupted Tom ripping a planet in half, an awakened Star rewinding time to restore a dying galaxy while holding Tom back with an astral projection, and Star impaling Tom with a sword of the Valar.
Tom and Mary froze upon seeing the projections, unable to remember the events being showed to them. Star however cringed upon seeing them, wanting to keep what happened in the back of her mind. She failed to however as the commotion in the congregation worsened, seeing her mother look on in terror.
"Oh God, we gotta get outta here, Rick!" Morty panicked, grabbing Rick by the arm.
"No, Morty, I need to find out what's going to happen here." Rick pushed him aside, worrying the boy.
The gods began to shout over each other in anger and Eon put down the projections. "Those children must be eliminated as they are a threat and Terra must be destroyed as well as it is the center of this Convergence! If we can do this, we can push back Nightmare's efforts."
Several gods, including Ares, Anubis and Krishna, agreed with this sentiment, but Beerus merely yawned at this. "You gods are just petty children who're only now realizing their place in the cosmic hierarchy. Your opinions don't matter here." Angry mutters spread among the lower gods.
"The Watcher has valid concerns, Wizard Merlin." The Grand Priest stepped forward from the Omni-Kings. "The Omni-Kings suggest action be taken before the children cause chaos again and that they must be either terminated or a proper resolution be met for the sake of cosmic balance."
Merlin listened to the gods argue and stepped forward. "I understand that you gods are upset at no longer being the most powerful due to the effects of the Convergence, but you never were to begin with." He explained. "Above all beings in reality are The One Above All, followed by Nightmare, the Endless of Reality, the Valar then myself and the Omni-Kings. All of you fall beneath us in power and are merely mortals with longevity and misplaced self-importance." The gods were more aggravated by this.
"There are bigger problems than who is more powerful than who." Merlin continued. "Nightmare had attacked reality in its infancy before being defeated by the Creator who put the Valar in charge of keeping him sealed away, but his seal is breaking and the cosmic imbalance caused by the Convergence is only further weakening it." He stepped forward. "I do not know what God or the Endless' plans are for Nightmare, but we must take the initiative before he escapes. So I propose that we join forces against Nightmare should he escape."
Thanos sifted his mind upon hearing this. "That sounds like a reasonable idea."
The gods discussed this amongst themselves and most agreed with their sentiment, even the evil ones among them like Aku and Surtur. Morgana however frowned at this. "But how do you know all this?" Everyone turned to her. "How do you know so much about beings that we've never even heard of? I mean, does anyone here know about the Endless."
The gods agreed with her. "Oh, no." Whis became concerned.
"The reason he knows this is because like the children we're concerned about, him and I are spawns of Nightmare and the Valar." Morgana stated, confusing the crowd and shocking Tom and Mary below.
"How can we even trust Merlin then?" Osiris frowned. "I suggest we band together and destroy the spawns of Nightmare right here and now!"
Whis burst into laughter. "You gods are so funny."
"Alright, alright, I'm getting tired of this." Beerus slammed his foot on the floor, shaking the entire hall. "It seems you all don't know your place even after Merlin spelled it out for you. If I alone can beat most of you with half of my power, how can you stand a chance against a spawn of Nightmare, yet alone Merlin himself?" The gods failed to answer.
"He's right." Jiren finally spoke. "You may have exceptionally low power levels, but even you should be able to sense how powerful Merlin is."
Nervous muttering spread through the crowd and Eon sensed their fear. "No, we won't stand for this! We can't trust Merlin if he would protect the very beings that'd cause our destruction!" He riled up the pantheon once more.
Queen Butterfly looked around, becoming unnerved. "This is bad."
Inside the ship, a low monotone beep went off and lights began to flash as energy levels began to spike on the vessel's sensors. "Uh, I think we should probably leave now." Stan said.
"Uh, uh." Rick looked around, trying to calm himself.
"Rick, if they start fighting, we're going to die." Ford said.
Rick sifted his mind and huffed. "Alright, fine." He reached for a dial when a portal opened below!
A bright and vibrant portal opened on an upper row as a tall yellow humanoid being arrived. "Well, well, did I miss something?" Bill Cipher grinned.
"Lord Bill!" The Diamonds chattered excitedly as they saw him.
"It is I, the only god worth worshipping!" Bill Cipher snapped his fingers and conjured a cane, arrogantly stepping down through the rows and drawing everyone's attention. "Hmm, seems you've allowed the lowly riffraff to gather here, huh, beardy? I thought this was a place only for gods to congregate."
He moved closer to Merlin's section when he noticed the Diamonds call out to him excitedly, bringing a grin to his face. "Just step back if anything gets heated around here, I can take them all on by myself."
"Who is that bastard?" Hades growled, his blue flames coming ablaze.
"I thought it was clear enough, I am Bill motherfucking Cipher!" The demon summoned a magical wheel behind him. "I'm a part of Nightmare himself and I came to see what you were planning, though it seems poor Merlin is truly desperate if he is willing to work with vile weaklings like you." He turned to Aku. "Except for you though, I'm a big fan."
"There's no need for flattery, inter-dimensional demon." Aku smiled. "It's about time somebody made this interesting for me."
"Exactly my point!" Bill pointed at the gods. "Why are you all here sitting like you're friends? Are you playing nice just to appease lil ol' Merlin? I guess you are all just weak!" The gods became furious.
A commotion spread throughout the hall and Byakuya of the Gotei 13, having studied Aizen this whole time, became impatient. "I must put an end to this." He stood up. "Aizen should pay for his crimes to the Sereitei here and now!"
"Do not let your emotions control you, Kuchiki." Yamamoto said. "We shall deal with him in due time."
"Forgive me, Captain, but I cannot comply with your request." Byakuya drew out his Zanpakutou.
"Finally, I've been itching for a fight!" Kenpachi released his reiatsu!
Goku read the room and jumped out of his seat. "Well, since everyone's doing it." He transformed into Super Saiyan Blue and vanished.
"Goku, stop!" Beerus called out.
Goku appeared beside Eon and sucker punched him, captivating the entire room as he pushed the cosmic being back! Vegeta, Beerus and Whis froze in shock as this happened and Goku grinned as he seemingly caught the entity off guard when the being turned to him in anger! Eon waved his arm, causing him to vanish!
"That idiot!" Vegeta frowned.
"You dare humiliate me by bringing along that savage?" Eon frowned at Beerus.
"Well, here we go." Whis cocked his neck.
Eon teleported up to Beerus with a punch and Whis blocked it with his staff, creating a shockwave that shook the entire room! "I'd advise against that." The Angel smiled. "Could you return to your seat please?" Eon blazed with dark energy, frightening some of the gods who got overwhelmed by the pressure. "Well, I guess not." Whis smacked Eon aside, knocking him through a wall!
Archimedes raised his brow as he saw this. "I thought those walls were indestructible."
Eon stepped out of the hole in the wall as if it was nothing, still blazing in anger. "You will pay for that!"
"No, you will!" The first Omni-King frowned.
"Bring Goku back here, now!" The second Omni-King channeled energy through his hand.
The chaos further took hold in the audience and Merlin finally lost it, slamming his staff against the floor and releasing a powerful white aura over his body! "Enough!" He commanded the room. "I am the Ancient Wizard and Master of all Magic, Emyrus and you will listen to me!"
The hall grew dead silent and Bill scoffed. "C'mon, don't tell me you're gonna let him order you around! We can still take him!"
"Leave!" Merlin waved his staff, banishing Bill out of the hall.
"Ah, you're so sexy when you get mad." Morgana stated, gaining a glare from the Wizard that only made her blush.
Mary watched the two interact and nudged Tom. "You think we'd end up like those two?" She asked, getting no answer as the boy was manacled by fear.
Seeing as the room was quiet, Merlin relinquished his energy and looked to the crowd, composing himself. "Nightmare's power is far too great for me to handle on my own, which is why I need your help." He continued. "The Precipice Blade is the sword that holds all reality in place and should the Dark One be freed, I plan on using it to defeat him. In order to do that, I will need the power of all known gods to pull it out of its cosmic sheath."
Confusion filled the hall, Whis raising his brow. "The Precipice Blade? But I thought that was just an old goddesses' tale."
"What? I thought you knew everything." Vegeta said in surprise, stunned to see the Grand Priest and the Omni-Kings show the same confusion. "You too?"
"The Precipice Blade, huh? Well, I've seen everything." Ford said from the pod.
"Yes, it does exist." Merlin answered. "That sword is more powerful than the Valar, myself and an individual Endless and I believe it's the only weapon that could defeat Nightmare."
"But, who would wield such a weapon?" Odin asked.
"He would." Merlin pointed at Tom.
"What? Me?" Tom jerked back.
"Only a being with the power of Nightmare can defeat him and with that blade, it'd be our best option."
"That plan is too reckless." Eon, having cooled down, said. "We should simply destroy the children and earth before it's too late." The gods discussed amongst themselves.
"I think the earth should be destroyed, but the children be spared." Queen Butterfly spoke up. "If destroying the earth doesn't help push back Nightmare, then the children can be used to stop him."
"I agree." Darkseid said, receiving a nod from High-Father who sat far from him.
"Eon is right, destroy the kids and Terra." Thanos said, gaining the support of most of the room.
"Why not simply kill the children?" Aku proposed. "They're the real problem and earth is merely suffering the Convergence's effects."
"I second that." Odin said. "It's a tough choice, but it's the most logical course of action. We can't trade billions of lives for three."
"I say we do neither." Thor said. "Even if Nightmare is pushed back for the time being, needless murder wouldn't stop him for good. We need to stop the chaos at the root."
"Murdering children or an entire planet would be barbaric." Vegeta frowned.
Merlin listened to them then chimed in. "I know it's a dangerous plan, but using the Precipice Blade is our only option. Destroying Terra could make things worse as there're many inter-dimensional rifts there and the children can be of great use for good. If we train them to use their powers, we can keep the chaos at bay." He stated. "I learned to use the power of Nightmare and the Valar to become reality's most powerful ally and they can as well."
A similar sentiment seemed to be carried among those in the room, including the Omni-Kings, and Merlin smiled. "Alright, then I bring this meeting to a close." He tapped the floor with his cane, opening the doors throughout the hall and sealing the hole in the wall Eon fell through.
"You are playing a dangerous game." Eon vanished.
"How disappointing." White Diamond disappeared, followed by the other Diamonds.
"It appears our business is done here." Darkseid turned around opening a boom-tube. "Let's go."
Aizen, Erhard and Apocalypse followed Darkseid out of the room and Morgana lagged behind, looking at Merlin. "Guess I'll see you next time, beloved!" She teased.
"Leave, Morgana." Merlin growled.
"Oh, you're so cute." She giggled and headed for the portal, hesitating to enter it. "… Be careful, Merlin, alright?" Merlin turned away from her and she frowned in worry, leaving in the gateway.
The hall slowly cleared and Merlin began to leave himself. "Grand Wizard." The Omni-Kings spoke simultaneously. "Keep an eye on the gods, they'll likely take out their anger on mortals and that'll be your fault for igniting."
"I'm well aware of that." Merlin said.
"And make no mistake, if the children step out of line and cause damage like they did before, we will personally wipe them out of existence." The Omni-Kings warned, as they hovered away.
Whis opened a gateway for the Omni-Kings, Supreme Kais and Beerus to walk through and he moved to enter as well when he saw Vegeta stay behind. "Something wrong, Vegeta?"
"I –," Vegeta sighed in exasperation. "Are you bringing back Kakarot?"
"Oh, silly me, I forgot." Whis waved his staff. "Boop."
Goku appeared beside Vegeta, falling to the ground and gasping for air! He looked around and groaned. "Aw, man, I missed everything!" He went back to his base form, seeing Whis and Vegeta. "Heh, sorry, I forgot you said I shouldn't fight anyone." He chuckled uneasily.
"You should be more careful." Vegeta headed into the portal. "I was worried about you for a second."
"What was that?"
"Nothing, you heard nothing." Vegeta corrected quickly.
"Aw, did you say you were worried about me?" Goku teased.
"Shut up, Kakarot!" Vegeta growled, humoring Goku and Whis who followed him through the portal.
Merlin walked up to Dr. Strange as he sent Tom, Star and Mary back to San Fransokyo via sling-ring and drew out a runic stone from his pocket, handing it to him. "What's this?" Dr. Strange asked.
"It's a new spell to seal Tom's powers so he has less access to them until he's ready to use them." Merlin said. "I will also need you to train the mewman princess, if she is to keep him at bay, she'll need to learn more powerful spells."
"Alright." The Doctor received the stone. "I'll have to prepare before I can train Star though, so give me a week before I start."
"Good." The Wizard nodded and the Doctor vanished.
Merlin looked out into the hall as everyone left and he tapped his cane, closing all its doors. "Merlin, why did you hide Rick and the others during our meeting?" Archimedes asked. "I know you saw them."
"They intrigue me." Merlin said simply. "They remind me of the way I used to be." He turned to the ceiling, looking right at Rick, Stan, Ford and Morty.
"Okay, we're going now." Rick said, starting up the pod.
"Yes, finally!" Morty celebrated as they vanished into hyperspace.
CRASHING BACK into Rick's garage, Rick, Morty, Stan and Ford quickly stepped out of the pod and began to panic. "Oh God, we're screwed!" Morty said. "Oh God … God is real!"
"I wouldn't jump to that conclusion; people call many things 'god'." Rick said.
"If Merlin says that He's real, wouldn't that be confirmation of it?" Ford asked.
"Who cares? I got to travel to the edge of the multiverse!" Rick cheered then immediately slumped. "I'm hungry, Imma grab a pizza."
"Screw that, I need to bring this to the Lab Coat Brigade, earth is in deep trouble right now." Ford took a portal gun and left with Stan.
Morty remained in the garage as the men left and looked at the portal gun shelf, reaching to grab one. "You're not going to go see the mewman chick, Morty." Rick called from another room.
"Oh, c'mon!" Morty groaned.
BIRDS AND spirit creatures flew through the skies in the Spirit World over Iroh who sat on a giant lily pad, breathing in the fresh air and meditating. Several other people roamed the forests that were on either side of the river and he relaxed as he heard their voices enjoying their beautiful surroundings. A gentle light glowed nearby and he opened his eyes to see Merlin and Archimedes appear beside him and stroll on the waters like it was solid ground.
"Ah, you're back." Iroh said. "I saw your meeting, you can be quite frightening when you're upset."
"Not unlike you when you were alive." Merlin pointed out.
"Well, I'm no cosmic wizard." Iroh jested.
Merlin chuckled then frowned slightly. "I hope I didn't make a mistake."
"Sometimes we can't know what our actions will lead to until they fully unravel before us." Iroh stated. "We just have to have faith and hope things work out well."
"I hope so."
"Now come, I found an interesting fruit at the end of this river." Iroh grabbed his paddle and waded onward, being followed by the Wizard.
And the Time Wars shall begin!
If you're interested in catching up on previous stories, check out our bio for the order in which they progress. You don't have to read past books to know what's happening here, but you can do so if you're interested.
Did you enjoy the chapter? Do you think Morty will ever get together with Star? Leave us anything in a comment. Thanks for reading!
